‘Disclosure Day’ Review – An Empathetic Thrill Ride Of Epic Proportions

Trust no one. Paranoia. Obfuscate. Cover up. Deny. Those are all central tenets of the corporation and government at hand in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. Which happens to be his best film in the last 20+ years. That’s no slight to flims like West Side Story, Bridge of Spies, The Fabelmans, The Post, or Ready Player One, though. It just marks a return to a classic feeling for Spielberg, one that he hasn’t tapped into in quite a long time, and one that he draws from almost all of his previous films to create here. There’s so much going on in Disclosure Day, but at the heart of it is one thing.

Human empathy.

It’s not aliens, it’s not government coverups, it’s not cars flying, space ships flying, or even Colin Firth astral projecting. Those things are nice, they add to the overall film, but the fact that Spielberg and Koepp chose to make this film about the human ability to feel empathy in the day and age we’re in is the superpower.

Disclosure Day follows Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) and Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt). The opening of the film sees Daniel doing a secret drop with people from the company WardX in exchange for his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson). He’s then contacted by a mysterious figure named Hugo (Colman Domingo), who’s operating behind the scenes on a project for disclosure of knowledge of alien beings.

While that story is going on, simultaneously, Margaret and her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell) get a visit from a mysterious Cardinal bird in their apartment. The visit seemingly gives Margaret the gift of foresight and the ability to read people’s thoughts. She then goes to her job as a meteorologist and speaks the alien language for all of Kansas City to see on air.

An Unraveling That You Won’t Believe

As the film goes on, Daniel and Margaret’s stories become intertwined as they’re both part of this whole conspiracy unraveling. Somehow, they’re the key to all of it and WardX, led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), wants to stop them at all costs. The film really splits into three distinct sections. The opening third is all about who Daniel and Margaret are, the middle third is about them coming together, and the final third is all about disclosure and if it works or not. That three-act structure might be simplistic to screenwriters, but in Disclosure Day, it absolutely works.

Spielberg has made plenty of thrilling films in his illustrious career, but Disclosure Day somehow takes those thrills and combines them with a dose of emotion, a bit of comedy, and an adventure that’ll entertain any moviegoer out there. The film is a LOT funnier than I thought it would be with moments of levity put in to break up the chase. This isn’t just jokes thrown in, though; there are ironic moments, and just things that people do in their real lives, reacting to the events of the film. There isn’t just paranoia and doom and gloom.

An Absolutely Jaw-Dropping Third Act

Disclosure Day really enters an all-time territory in its third act, though. The mystery melts away, revealing what has been going on all along. Without spoiling anything, the extended sequence of disclosure is about as jaw-dropping as a movie can get for me. I was dumbfounded, just staring at the screen, vibrating with emotion while it unfolded. It combines with the beautiful cinematography from Janusz Kaminski. For something that should feel scary and bewildering, it doesn’t in the slightest. Spielberg and Koepp craft a screenplay and scenes that feel so goddamn human, but they’re talking about something that is not human at all.

After Disclosure Day ended, I got up from the theater, walked to the car, and broke out in tears sitting there. I was so overcome with emotion from the ending of this movie that I couldn’t hold it in. It wasn’t an immediate reaction, but one that came a bit later. That’s really how I can describe Disclosure Day. It has all the hallmarks of a Spielberg classic. The characters are put in tremendous peril with set pieces that excite and entertain, but underneath all of that is an emotional resonance that cannot be contained.

Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor are excellent in the film. Blunt puts on an impressive performance in her own right, but there’s a scene in the middle of the film, just after a huge action setpiece, that is phenomenal for Blunt. Combine that with an equally villainous turn for Colin Firth, but one that has some wrinkles to it. He’s not just evil, he’s got other motivations at play. Rounding out the cast, Eve Hewson provides plenty of the religious element of the film as a former member of the Church in the film. Her story is just as fascinating as the two leads at points.

Are there things that could be explained better or that don’t pass the logic test? Sure. But I’m not here to nitpick those. Across the board, Disclosure Day is an astounding movie. It’ll leave you thinking about your place in the universe, whether that’s with religion, community, or just how empathy is our superpower as human beings.

Disclosure Day is one of Spielberg’s best movies in recent memory and combines all the things about his filmmaking style that we love at the movies.

Disclosure Day releases on June 12th, 2026.

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